


Hugs & Giving

by distractionpie



Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Awkward Cullen, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-29
Updated: 2015-11-29
Packaged: 2018-05-03 23:37:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 934
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5311406
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/distractionpie/pseuds/distractionpie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cullen's raising money for charity. Bull is good at hugs.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hugs & Giving

**Author's Note:**

> I really wanted to do something for Bull/Cullen week even though I've been busy so I went into my big list of potential aus and picked out _'the hug for charity you offered me on the street really brought out our amazing chemistry au'_ as a premise for a quick fic. I kind of fell short on the chemistry aspect and the Bull/Cullen in any romantic or sexual sense, but it's something. This is my first go at writing Cullen though so that's been interesting.

Cullen had been standing on the corner since 9am and time couldn't go by quick enough. It had seemed like a good idea when Leliana had suggested it - raise money to fund proper support for recovering lyrium users while hopefully destigmatising lyrium users in the eyes of the public. Cullen had seemed like a good pick, the image of a nice chantry boy, clean cut and well mannered, he was supposed help humanise their cause to those who wrote off lyrium abuse as a by-product of a dirty criminal underbelly, not a problem of the chantry's failure to properly regulate and oversee their administration of the drug to their own personnel.

Cullen wasn't convinced send him out had worked. Plenty of people had still sneered at him, and one man had thrown a coffee at him, hissing 'Templar' as he passed. Cullen had mostly managed to avoid it, there were a few stinging patches of scalded skin on his arm and a small stain on the sleeve of the 'Hugs not Drugs' shirt that one of Leliana's friends had arranged to be printed but that would probably come out with a good scrub. There had been some people who'd approached him and he'd accepted their donations but he wasn't convinced of the sincerity of their interest in the cause since most of those encounters had ended in him hastily backing away from wandering hands.

At the start he'd been making an effort to look approachable and to engage with passers-by, amped up by Cassandra's brief pep talk to the half-dozen volunteers that would be spread across the city, by lunchtime he'd been smiling weakly and rattling his collection tin occasionally just to remind people what he was there for. It was now five pm and he had his hands jammed firmly in his pockets and was staring fixedly at the city clock-tower waiting for the last hour to be over.

"Hey, hugs!”

Cullen startled at the voice, looking over at a group of about a dozen people - including the tallest man Cullen had ever seen, headed in his direction.

"How much for all of us?" the young man at the front of the group said, nodding to Cullen's collection tin.

"Uh..." Cullen hesitated. They hadn't been told to ask for a set amount, just a donation, so there wasn't really a multiplier he could use. Also, he'd agreed to this expecting to hug a few individuals, not be mobbed by strangers.

"Your first time?" the tall man said with a hint of a smirk. Cullen could feel his face heating ridiculously.

"Ah, yes. It was the idea of a colleague of mine..."

The man nodded. "Yeah, pimping you out for donations, my lot have tried that as well." He mock glared at the man who'd asked if Cullen would hug all of them, before sticking out a hand in Cullen's direction. "I'm Bull."

"Cullen," Cullen answered shaking his hand. This was probably an ideal moment to attempt the spiel Leliana had scripted for him, about the dangers of lyrium and why offering support to people who were quitting was so important, but the words were stuck in his throat.

"So how about it?" Bull said, when he released Cullen's hand. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a banknote, holding over Cullen's collection tin. Cullen couldn't see the denomination, but the fact it was a bill meant it was already more than any other single donation he'd been offered that day. He nodded and Bull released the note. Cullen let the collection tin drop so it was hanging from its security straps around his shoulders and adjusted it so it wasn’t in his way then raised his arms.

Most people had let Cullen wrap his arms around them for a moment before the awkwardness of hugging a stranger set in and then they pulled back, but Bull lifted his own arms and wrapped them solidly around Cullen in return. His embrace was firm enough that Cullen could feel the press of Bull’s chest against his own, and the weight of Bull’s arms across his back heavy but not gripping or constricting. Bull’s heartbeat was steady and his breathing deep and even in the way that no amount of carefully counting the seconds of inhalations and exhalations had enabled Cullen to achieve. So close though, it was easy to imitate Bull’s rhythms, relaxing his shoulders and letting his eyes drift shut as the heat radiating from Bull chased the chill from his bones.

The moment was broken by an uncomfortable sounding cough. Cullen jerked backwards, stomach flooding with mortification, and stumbled over his own feet, lurching towards the ground before a pair of scarred hands caught his shirt and steadied him.

He took a gasping breath as he got his feet back under him and looked up at Bull, who patted his shoulders and stepped back.

“Thank you,” Cullen said breathily. “I… uh… for your donation I mean.”

Bull nodded. “No problem,” he dipped a hand in his pocket and pulled out a business card, offering it to Cullen who accepted automatically. “Here. Me and the boys are always down to help out a good cause. Call our office on Monday and we’ll get a regular donation set up.”

 Cullen took the card, trying to recall the spiel Josephine used for new donors. "I... we'll be happy to have you."

Bull's friends were already walking away, but he smiled once more at Cullen before he joined them.

Cullen pocketed the business card, and thought it was near weightless it felt heavy in his pocket.


End file.
